The 5 Biggest NBA Draft Busts of All Time
Matt Dominique | July 15, 2026
Every NBA Draft comes with big promises. Teams spend months studying film, interviewing prospects, checking medical records, and convincing themselves they have found the player who can change the direction of the franchise. Sometimes that belief pays off. Other times, the pick becomes the kind of mistake fans bring up for decades.
Calling someone a draft bust can be harsh because every story is different. Some players never adjusted to the NBA, while others had their careers ruined by injuries. What matters here is the full picture: where the player was selected, what was expected, how much value the team received, and which stars were left on the board. By that standard, these five names will never be forgotten.
Darko Milicic
Darko Milicic is probably the first name most fans mention when this topic comes up. Detroit selected him second overall in the loaded 2003 draft, placing him between LeBron James and a group that included Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade.
The Pistons believed Milicic could become the next major international star, but he never came close to that level. He played 10 seasons for six teams and averaged 6.0 points and 4.2 rebounds. Detroit won the 2004 championship anyway, so the pick did not destroy the franchise, but passing on three future Hall of Famers likely cost the Pistons years of elite talent after that title run.
Sam Bowie
Sam Bowie is remembered because of both injuries and timing. Portland selected the Kentucky center second overall in 1984 after Hakeem Olajuwon went first. The Trail Blazers already had Clyde Drexler and wanted help in the frontcourt, so the decision made sense to them at the time.
Bowie did have a respectable NBA career, averaging 10.9 points and 7.5 rebounds over 10 seasons, but chronic leg problems prevented him from becoming the player Portland expected. The bigger issue was that Michael Jordan was selected with the next pick. Every championship, scoring title, and MVP Jordan collected made Portland’s decision look worse. Bowie was not a bad player, but he became tied forever to the greatest player the league has ever seen.
See Sam Bowie’s career NBA stats here
Anthony Bennett
Anthony Bennett stands out because there was doubt about the pick from the moment Cleveland made it. The Cavaliers shocked the basketball world by selecting the UNLV forward first overall in 2013, even though many analysts projected him to go much later in the lottery.
The concerns quickly became real. Bennett struggled with conditioning, confidence, and finding a clear role. He played for four teams in four seasons and finished with career averages of 4.4 points and 3.1 rebounds. The 2013 draft did not have an obvious superstar at the top, but Cleveland still expected far more from the first player selected. Few No. 1 picks have disappeared from the league that quickly.
See Anthony Bennett’s stats here
Greg Oden
Greg Oden is the most unfortunate case on this list because his talent was never the problem. After a dominant college season at Ohio State, Portland selected him first overall in 2007 and expected him to become the franchise center for years.
Repeated knee injuries took that opportunity away. Oden appeared in only 105 NBA games and averaged 8.0 points and 6.2 rebounds. When he was healthy, there were moments when the talent was obvious, but those stretches never lasted long enough. The decision became even more painful because Kevin Durant went second and developed into one of the greatest scorers in league history. Oden is remembered as a bust, but his story is really about a career that never had a fair chance to begin.
Hasheem Thabeet
Memphis selected Hasheem Thabeet second overall in 2009 because of his size and shot-blocking ability. At 7-foot-3, the former UConn center looked like the type of defensive anchor teams wanted at that time.
The league changed quickly, and Thabeet never caught up. He struggled away from the basket, offered very little offensively, and could not earn a steady rotation role. His NBA career lasted five seasons, and he averaged just 2.2 points and 2.7 rebounds. Memphis also passed on James Harden and Stephen Curry, two future MVPs, which turned a disappointing pick into one of the biggest missed opportunities in franchise history.
See Hakeen Thabeet’s Careers Stats Here
Final Thoughts
Draft mistakes are part of the NBA, but these five stand out because of how much was invested and what each franchise could have had instead. Milicic, Bowie, Bennett, Oden, and Thabeet reached the league under very different circumstances, yet all left their franchises asking the same question: What if they had made a different choice?
See Also:
The Best NBA Draft Classes of All Time: A Deep Dive Into The Top 5
